ON Friday, September 19, I was privileged to speak at a celebratory event in honour of ten years of Barry Community First Responders.

When a 999 call is made, certain types of calls can mean that Community First Responders are alerted by one of the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust’s three Clinical Contact Centres across Wales at the same time as an emergency vehicle so that they can provide essential care until the vehicle reaches the scene. For a patient, this extra helping hand can sometimes make a vital difference to their lives.

I was delighted to congratulate the Barry First Responders for ten years of dedicated service, saving lives and reassuring thousands of people who need a quick response when an ambulance is called.

Between 2004 and 2014, approximately 30 volunteers have averaged 20,000 hours annually providing seven days a week cover for 365 days a year and dealing with over 5,000 patients. This is an incredible achievement and I know I am joined by the people of Barry in thanking the Barry Community Responders for the valuable service they provide to us all.

Following on from this, the Welsh Government Health Minister, Mark Drakeford AM, has recently announced that the Welsh Ambulance Service is to receive almost £4 million of funding from the Welsh Government for a major upgrade to its fleet of vehicles. The investment will cover the cost of new emergency ambulances, specialist vehicles, courier service vehicles and patent care service vehicles.

The new vehicles will help contribute to a more reliable, better equipped, and more efficient emergency ambulance service, as well as reducing overall operating costs as they will be more fuel efficient.

The Minister has also announced that patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer in Wales will be able to access the drug Abraxane on the NHS-making Wales the only country in the UK where the chemotherapy drug will be routinely available to eligible patients on the NHS. (The decision to fund Abraxane follows a positive recommendation from the independent All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG) earlier this month. AWMSG appraises medicines for use in Wales, ensuring patients have access to those treatments which have a proven evidence base and are demonstrated to be cost and clinically-effective.)

The Minister has also made a half a million pound investment in the latest high-tech cameras which help identify diabetes related eye-damage and which could save people’s sight. This announcement comes during National Eye Health Week, (September 22-28) when eye care charities, organisations and health professionals from across the UK join together to promote the importance of eye health and the need for regular sight tests for all.

This vital equipment will enable the Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Service, which was set up by the Welsh Government in 2002, to detect damage to the retina caused by diabetes. The new funding, worth £561,000, will allow the service to replace all its digital retinal cameras and allow clinicians to provide the very best screening facilities for patients in Wales.